The Changing of Him
by nikki-of-stormhold
Summary: Before Lucas is revealed as a traitor, he meets someone who might change things for him forever. She's just like him, and he can't seem to rid his mind of her. But will she survive his treacherous genius? Lucas/OC.
1. Chapter 1

OK- just some context notes for explanation so no-one yells at me over lack of reality or continuity. This is set before Lucas is found to be a traitor, and I may continue it slightly AU where he doesn't turn traitor at all. Holly is an OC of mine, and this is going to be Lucas/Holly eventually. I want to keep Lucas in character because I like his dark side and tortured soul!

Obviously I don't own Terra Nova or anyone in it, but I do own Holly

"I'm afraid all the beds are full," Elisabeth Shannon said as she led the way through the colony's infirmary. "But as you only need to have that washed and sealed, would you mind sitting here? I can have Dr. Carroll see to it. Alternatively you can wait, but it might be a while..."

Lucas Taylor shook his head whilst pressing the ripped piece of his shirt he had used as a pressure pack harder onto the cut in his arm.

"Its fine, I'd like to be out of here pretty quick so I'll just take your Dr. Carroll." He followed her past the busy emergency department of the infirmary and into a small office, noticing the pictures of her family scattered around it. Obviously she was doing him a favour because he happened to be Taylor's son. Perhaps she wanted to clear the infirmary quicker- who wouldn't want that if they were a doctor? But he suspected that his father's position as her husband's boss and the head of the entire colony had more to do with it. Or maybe she was just a nice person. That wasn't a terribly convincing argument though, seeing as not many existed.

"Let me just take a quick look..."

Lucas perched on the edge of her desk as she leaned over his arm, peeling back the blood soaked piece of his shirt that he had clamped over the deep gash in it. He winced as she pressed it back down.

"Yes, that's pretty simple. Just wait here a second and I will send Dr. Carroll in to you."

He nodded, trying his best to smile. Once she had rounded the corner out of sight he dropped the smile and sighed. This was extraordinarily tiresome. He had often wondered why, when the human body was capable of the marvels it was capable of, why on earth was it so fragile? This Dr. Carroll had better be as quick as Dr. Shannon had promised; he had work to do.

"Lucas Taylor?" said a voice at the office door.

Looking up from his arm he met the eyes of a young woman he had never seen before. Her dark hair was tied back loosely from her face, but a few curls had escaped and hung in a rather unruly fashion against her neck. She wore a white coat like Dr. Shannon had, with jeans and a baby pink collar necked shirt tucked in at the waist. Her ID had flapped a little as she'd walked and it had come to rest flat against her shoulder. Trying to read it from where he sat, Lucas looked at her intently.

"Yes."

"Hey, I'm Dr. Carroll, Dr. Shannon's assistant." She walked forwards to greet him and he noted her last name from her ID tag, with her medical credentials after it.

"Nice to meet you," she said cheerfully, holding out a hand to shake his. He took it. "I met your father yesterday, and he said he had a son. I didn't think we'd meet like this."

Lucas smiled slightly.

"And how many years have you been out of medical school?" he asked calmly, a hint of a condescending tone to his voice. She looked up sharply from her notes.

"Is it really that obvious?"

"No. You're just really that young."

"Do I take that as a compliment or an insult?" she asked, looking a little intimidated.

"It was more of an observation, but take it how you want." He was aware that he was being a little rude, but he really was in a hurry and more so, he wasn't in the mood for members of his father's fan club, even if they were brand new ones.

"I came straight from graduation to Terra Nova," she said, a little colour in her cheeks. "If you'd rather someone more experienced treated you I can go and..."

"No," he said, taking hold of her hand as she went to move away to the door. "It's fine. I was merely intrigued."

She stood for a few seconds, staring at him and then at his hand curled around hers. He let go slowly with a slight smirk. Clearing her throat, Dr. Carroll looked at his notes once more, frowning.

"What's your first name?" Lucas asked softly. He had been in a hurry, but his father was always saying he needed to be more sociable and should get to know newer Terra Novans better.

"You just read my ID," she said, not looking up from his notes. "You tell me."

Lucas widened his smirk.

"Holly," he said slowly. "Been here long?"

She cleared her throat, putting his notes down and opening a cupboard to her left.

"No."

One word answers were always slightly amusing, he found, because you knew there was so much more the person wanted to say. Watching people trying to restrain themselves was fun.

"You're a scientist," he said, his amusement present in his voice.

"Evidently."

"Tell me Holly, is Dr. Shannon sure that you are the full ticket?"

She spun around holding a pair of latex gloves and a dressing.

"Tell me, Mr. Taylor. Are you always this rude? Or am I just special?"

He laughed softly.

"I'm sure I have a reputation," he mused. "But you mustn't listen to them. You should make up your own mind."

"Oh I have," she muttered, pulling on the latex gloves one at a time.

Lucas looked down and grinned. She was fun. He knew he had offended her, which meant she was good at what she did. People who were bad at what they did wouldn't get offended when someone pointed it out- they would get insecure instead. There was a distinct difference. She was actually riled, and that meant that she knew she was a good doctor, because she didn't believe for a second that what he was implying was right.

"OK. Let me see this," she said, standing close to him and gesturing for him to hold his arm out. The gash was on his upper arm, and he let go of the makeshift pressure pack he had been holding to it.

"How did you get this?" she asked, frowning with concentration. Lifting the bloodied rag gently, she discarded it and looked back at his arm.

"I was OTG doing some research. A slasher surprised me."

Holly raised her eyebrows.

"I've seen some more of the slashers' work. They seem to be busy here."

Lucas laughed again softly.

"They are the most dangerous of the predators out there. They can run at 45miles per hour, and they have tails that act as giant knives." He winced as she tugged the sleeve of his shirt away from the cut.

"You haven't been OTG yet then," he added.

"What does OTG mean?" she asked, cutting his shirt so she could get at the cut properly.

"Outside the gates."

"Oh, no. I haven't. Not sure I want to after seeing this kind of thing so often in two days." She began to wash the cut, pressing a warm, damp towel to the edges of it very gently. "You're lucky this missed your shoulder," she added, looking at the length of it.

Lucas watched her work for a few minutes in silence, wondering what she was thinking. She was quick and methodical, and confident in what she was doing.

"This might sting a bit," she said, raising a can of some sort of aerosol. He gritted his teeth as she sprayed it. 'Sting a bit' was an understatement, but he made no noise.

"There." She took her gloves off, stepping back. "You're all done. Just don't get it wet for twenty four hours, or you'll need to come back."

He looked up with a sly smile.

"And you wouldn't like that one bit," he said, staring at her intently. She looked up, meeting his gaze with surprise.

"I feel we got off on the wrong foot," she said, folding her arms. "Either that or you really are an aggravating individual."

He laughed, standing up.

"Well. How about we try again?" he said, sounding a little bored. "Outside of your work so it's not so easy for me to insult you."

Holly narrowed her eyes. His arrogance was infuriating- that he was aware of. And it wasn't like he couldn't help it.

"What do you suggest?" she said, smiling pleasantly.

"Well, how about a little walk OTG tomorrow morning?"

"I'm working."

"Afternoon?"

She thought for a few seconds, biting her lip without him seeing.

"I promise I'll be nice," he added. "And I'll keep you safe from the slashers."

She laughed.

"What, so I have to fix your other arm too?"

Lucas blinked. He'd let it go- it was too small a thing to be of any consequence.

"OK," she said suddenly. "Sounds good."

"Well. I'll meet you here at four then. Bring your boots."

Turning, he swung his jacket over his shoulder, put one hand in his pocket and strode out of the office.

"Goodbye Holly Carroll. Oxford taught you well."

With that he was gone, his quiet, irritating laugh still ringing in her ears. Shaking her head, she cleared up the bloodied towels and wiped down the desk with disinfectant.

"Wait," she murmured, stopping in the middle of spraying it. "How did he know..."

She had not told him where she had gotten her medical degree, and it wasn't on her badge.

Please review dear ones


	2. Chapter 2

**Forgot to mention this- the timing is also going to be off- it's out of canon, because I wanted to do things slightly differently. That's the beauty of fan fiction I guess, you can do precisely what you want with a story! **

Chapter Two

Holly frowned as she walked, holding the strap of her satchel which hung across her body loosely. It had been an odd day. She had heard of Lucas Taylor almost immediately after coming through the portal- he was somewhat of a celebrity at Terra Nova, not least because of who his father was. She had barely had any time to anticipate what he would be like, nor to care, but had she had time to form an expectation of him she would undoubtedly have been wrong. She wasn't sure what to make of him. He was older than her, which she knew from his medical records. The man was a doctor in physics on the record, a total and utter genius off of it, and extremely quick thinking and sharp. He didn't miss a beat, and it seemed as if it wasn't just equations and sums that he could read to figure things out. She felt as if he had her figured out. In ten minutes he had managed to establish things about her that she had told no-one, even if it was mainly because she hadn't had a chance to yet. But why? Why did he care? Why was he interested? He wasn't, not really. He was so clever that life itself bored him, so he used people as his entertainment. That would be it.

Entering her new house, she closed the door behind her and swung her shoulder bag over her head, leaving it on the breakfast bar as she kicked off her shoes. Terra Nova was so new. In a thousand ways it was exactly what she had expected, and in a thousand more it was not. The people were lovely on the whole, and she loved her job. It seemed as if the ordinary pressures she would have faced back in 2149 had not followed her here, but had instead been replaced by a set of far more intriguing, more interesting ones. Lucas Taylor, of course, was already one of them. So he wanted to take her OTG. Well, wanted was a strong word. It was probably part of his game- she was just another puppet on his handmade stage, dangling in his face to amuse and entertain him. Smiling to herself, she stepped out onto her balcony and gazed at the beautiful blue sky. She would play for now. He wasn't the only one that was bored when he wasn't working. She had to admit, he was extremely attractive. He was toned and muscular, and naturally tanned from being outside in the sun so much. That had been the unexpected part. When Dr. Shannon had told her she would be treating Lucas Taylor, she had expected, from the little snippets of his reputation she had picked up prior to that morning, that he would be a stereotypical nerd with gangly limbs and spots. If ever she had been wrong it had been about him and how he would look.

He was so arrogant though. He knew how clever he was, and it showed. He thought he could manipulate her only minutes after meeting her, and that bothered her. He, like so many others, was already making the mistake of underestimating her. Well she would go OTG with him tomorrow, out of sheer curiosity more than anything. Stepping into her study, she looked at the papers pinned to her walls. She had only lived here a matter of days, and already the walls were covered with her papers. Standing in the middle of the room, she folded her arms and smiled. If Lucas Taylor thought he was the only one who could read equations and work the way he did, then he was satisfyingly wrong. Gazing at the numbers, she knew for a minute how he felt. It was a special feeling, to be able to look at the numbers and letters and symbols and to know what they meant where they appeared as gibberish to everyone else. Yes- she could see how it could get to one's head. She would go OTG in the morning, but this secret she would keep. He didn't need to know everything, and some things he would never work out on his own.

Holly tugged her white coat off slowly, hanging it on the hook in the doctor's lounge. Pulling her hair back, she scraped it into an untidy ponytail and began to wind a hair tie around it.

"I'd leave it down if I were you," said a voice in the doorway, causing her to jump. "It will keep the sun off of your neck."

She sighed quietly upon seeing that it was Lucas, hoping he hadn't seen that he'd scared her. He leaned against the door frame casually, and she wondered how long he had been standing there.

"Is the sun that bad at four in the afternoon?" she asked, letting go of her hair so that it fell back down her neck and back. He smiled. His smile was always more of a smirk, and she was acutely aware of his eyes following her hair as it tumbled out of her hands.

"Yes. Take my word for it." Standing up straight he watched her cross the room to where he stood, and moved only at the last minute to let her pass him. She paused outside the room, waiting for him to lead the way. He did so, striding outside into the sunlight and towards a rover near the gates to Terra Nova.

"We're driving?" she said with surprise.

"No, I'm driving. You haven't been taught how to drive a rover yet."

"Isn't it just like a car?"

He laughed. It was irritating- as if he was genuinely amused.

"No. Jump in." He opened the passenger door for her, holding out a hand to help her climb up into the rover. She looked at him for a moment, and then took it. She almost gasped as he half threw her up into the vehicle, surprised at his strength. As he closed the door and walked around the back of the rover, she found herself to be a little nervous. She didn't know this man and he wasn't the sort that made you feel all safe and cuddly. Here she was about to venture into prehistoric, dinosaur infested jungle with someone who seemed more than a little threatening and unhinged, and she was doing it totally out of her own will. The driver's door opened and he climbed in, and began to type numbers into a keypad.

"Every rover has a code that needs to be typed in for it to work. Not everyone knows the codes. Of course, you can just jack the starter..."

He spoke without looking at her, focusing on what he was doing.

"Like... joyriding..." she said, watching him. He laughed softly.

"Yes. Except out there it won't bring much joy."

Suddenly the engine roared into life, and Lucas sat back. Before long they were driving slowly towards the gate, and she heard a soldier outside shout for it to be lifted.

"Dr. Taylor," the soldier said as Lucas halted the rover close to the gate. "Heading out?"

Lucas nodded, watching the gate go up. "We should be back before dusk," he said. "If we're not, don't worry about it."

Holly swallowed. This didn't seem at all sensible, but it was too late now. The rover moved forwards and beyond the boundaries of Terra Nova, and she felt suddenly alone and very vulnerable.

"Don't worry," Lucas laughed, driving with one hand as he leaned casually in the driver's seat. "I'll get you back in one piece."

"Where are we going?" she asked, clearing her throat.

"Oh, just a whistle stop tour. I thought I would show you some of the sights."

They drove in silence for about ten minutes, and Holly looked out at the jungle. It was beautiful and terrifying, unlike anything she had ever seen. For a moment the scientist in her took over and she quite forgot he was there.

"Amazing, isn't it?" he said softly, pulling the rover to a gentle halt. She nodded, looking out at a waterfall to their left.

"Very."

Lucas sighed, leaning his head back against the headrest.

"Want to go outside?"

Holly's head snapped around and she looked at him wide eyed.

"But..."

"I have a gun," he said flatly, sounding a little bored at the prospect of being faced with a dinosaur or predator, and his alarmingly green eyes twinkled a little in the sunlight.

"Is it safe?" she asked nervously.

"No. That's what the gun is for. Now shall we go?"

She didn't know why, but Holly felt quite safe with Lucas Taylor. Maybe it was his toned, muscular frame, or perhaps his gun. Maybe his attitude- he could quite probably offend a dinosaur to death should they meet one with his sarcasm and quick wit. Whatever it was, she felt suddenly like exploring.

"OK," she said, opening the rover door. Hopping down, she smiled. It was good to see grass underfoot. Walking around the front of the vehicle she met him, noticing for the first time how tall he was.

"Stay close to me," he said firmly. "Do as I say, and we'll be fine. If I tell you to run then run. If I say stand still then don't move. And most importantly, if I tell you to be quiet, then..."

"Alright," she said, shooting him an irritated look of agreement. "I get it."

He grinned infuriatingly, checking the gauge on a pistol which he then tucked into a holster on his torso. Turning, he led the way into the undergrowth. She followed him, worrying for a second that they wouldn't find their way back. They needed a map or something, to mark where they had left the car. But no- this place was eighty five million years in the past. There were no maps. Well- there was one, and he was walking just in front of her. Lucas was not the sort to wander off and leave them both vulnerable. He had obviously been to these parts before. More than once, she guessed, judging by the pace he was walking at. She followed him, keeping up quite ably. After about twenty minutes, he stopped and turned to face her.

"Tell me Holly Carroll, how do you feel about swimming?"

She grinned. She'd had a feeling he would do this.

"Why, you want to see me in a bikini?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. Lucas laughed.

"Fascinating as I'm sure that is, it's up to you as to whether you take your clothes off or not. We just need to cross this creek."

He looked over the edge of a rock ridge, and she joined him there.

"Er... that's not a creek, that's a river," she said, a little taken aback.

"Well when you see the rivers you'll retract that statement," Lucas said, stooping to remove his shoes. Holly did the same, feeling a little thrilled at the sense of adventure creeping over her. Lucas lowered himself into the water and turned to face her, holding out his hand once more.

"Give me your hand," he said. She hesitated. "It's alright," he said, sound ever so mildly impatient. "Nothing is going to happen to you. Not whilst you're with me."

For a strange and inexplicable reason, she believed him. Placing her hand in his, she frowned and stepped over the edge to sink into the water next to him. It was cool and refreshing, and clear as glass.

"Watch your arm," she said sternly. "I don't want to have to fix it again." They waded slowly to the other edge of the water, and Lucas hoisted himself up onto the rocks there. She went to do the same when suddenly a strong arm lifted her up and onto a sturdy rock. Almost gasping for the second time, she recovered herself and cleared her throat.

"Er... thanks," she said, not looking at him for fear of turning red. Lucas seemed suddenly preoccupied, and his mood seemed to change immediately. It was as if stepping up onto the rock he had become someone else.

"We're here," he said, sounding excited in what Holly could only describe as a dark way.

"Where's here?"

He stepped away from her, his back to her. She watched him trace his finger across one of the rocks almost affectionately, leaning his forehead against his arm as he did so. He laughed softly to himself, sounding much more sinister than he had before. Holly was suddenly afraid.

"Dr. Taylor," she asked with a slight quiver to her voice. "Where are we? What are we doing?"

After a few minutes of silence, he swung around, his eyes blazing.

"Look around you Holly, and please. Call me Lucas." He strode very slowly with his hands behind his back to lean against a large rock not far away from her.

"Look around and tell me what you see. Please," he held out his arm, gesturing for her to look at the rock wall he had stood in front of moments beforehand. "Take a look."

She inhaled deeply, and stepped forwards to look at the rocks. They were light grey in colour, with darker patches here and there. Looking closer, she spotted white markings on the darker patches. But they weren't just markings at all. This time she could not keep from gasping.

"What..."

She peered closer, tracing them as Lucas had with her forefinger.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" he said cheerfully, his hands behind his back as he looked out over the water.

"Especially when you know what they mean."

Holly took a deep breath and turned to him.

"And... what do they mean?"

Lucas ignored her for a few seconds, before turning his head sharply to look straight at her.

"Well why don't you tell me?" he said, very softly.

"I don't... they're just gibberish of some sort..."

Lucas jumped down off of the rock and she flinched. Slowly, he stepped closer to her and watched her intently.

"Come on, Dr. Carroll. Explain it to me. I know you can." Standing behind her, he leaned over her shoulder. "You see, nothing surprises me."

She flinched as his breath tickled her ear and neck.

"What's going on?" she said, trying to sound strong.

"What's going on," Lucas replied, causing her to gasp again as he caught hold of her from behind with a firm grip, "Is that you thought you could fool me. Hope Plaza thought they could fool me."

Holly struggled a little, but realized almost before she started that it was no use.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she gasped. "Let me go!"

"I can't, Dr. You'll run off into the jungle and get yourself killed. And besides, we haven't finished our discussion."

She tried to lean her head away from him so her spine wouldn't tingle as he talked.

"Now tell me. Why did they send you? Do they think I need help? Do they think I can't do it?"

He sounded angry, and amused at the same time, and his arm around her waist was vicelike. Closing her eyes, Holly manoeuvred her leg so that she could swing it, and caught him anywhere she could. For a second he let go of her and she made a run for it, but as she'd expected she didn't get very far. His full weight came crashing down on her, and then they were both on the ground. The wind knocked out of her, she didn't struggle as he turned her over to face him.

"Come on, Dr. Where were you going? You can't even drive the rover," he said, a mocking edge to his voice. Holly breathed raggedly, closing her eyes. She'd lost.

"Well, like you said, most people jack the starter."

"Mmmm, now we're getting somewhere." Lucas hovered over her, grinning at her intently. "You know, you were quite convincing at the start with your little helpless act."

"Really?" she smiled sweetly back at him, trying to move her knee. He jabbed his own to move hers aside and she gritted her teeth to keep from making a sound.

"A bit." He gripped her arms tighter. "Now, why are you here?"

"How did you know I could read those?" she asked, staring at him as he knelt over her, pinning her to the ground.

Lucas laughed again.

"You should believe them when they say I'm a genius. And one genius can usually spot another."

She laughed too. He was right.

"Don't get me wrong, I have a great amount of respect for you. But," he said, leaning down to whisper right into her ear. She turned her head to the side but couldn't move away.

"We can't both be geniuses together..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Just a quick note: Thanks for the reviews so far, much appreciated. I just wanted to say that I did actually put dividers between my author's notes and the story when I typed it all in a word document, but for some reason they did not appear when I uploaded it. Not sure why, sorry about that. I will try again to put them in in a different way perhaps.**

Chapter Three

"Get off of me," Holly snapped, trying in vain to move him. Lucas sighed, shaking his head.

"We need to finish our conversation first."

"This isn't a conversation. Did anyone ever tell you you're an..."

"I know, I know." Lucas laughed, sounding slightly unhinged. "Yes I have been told. Dr. Carroll, why don't you tell me what you're doing here, before I get angry?"

Holly closed her eyes. It was no use- what could she do? If she managed to get away from him, which was highly unlikely given his skill and strength, then she would be in just as much danger out in the jungle alone, if not more. He was right. She couldn't drive the rover and even if she could she had no idea where they were or how to get back to the colony. She had been looking out at the jungle all the way here, leaving Lucas to drive and navigate. He was serious- she could tell. His voice was full of sincere threat and at this moment in time, she did not think it wise to irritate him any further.

"Why don't you tell me what you know so I know which parts to tell you?" she said, having no choice but to give up. For now, anyway.

Lucas grinned. Slowly he sat back, keeping hold of her arms as he helped her to sit up. She did so, eyeing him warily. He dug into his pocket and retrieved a thin piece of rope.

"Just a precaution," he said cheerfully. "In case you feel like running away or doing anything... unintelligent."

Crossing behind her, he tied her wrists together. He wasn't rough and didn't tie them tightly, only enough to keep her from being able to use her hands. Walking back in front of her, he perched on a rock and looked at her intently.

"So. Dr. Holly Carroll. You're a medical doctor. Studied at Oxford University, England, graduating in medical science last year just before being approached by Hope Plaza to come to Terra Nova and keep an eye on me. Tell me Holly, aren't you proud of your abilities? The ones people don't know about, I mean."

She scowled at him, saying nothing.

"You have an incredible talent- your ability in physics and math are almost what mine are, and you're younger."

"How do you know about that?" she asked, genuinely curious. "How do you know about Oxford? Any of this?"

Lucas grinned again, leaning forward over his knees and clasping his hands together.

"I told you, Holly. You can't surprise me. I know all about you."

"How long have you known?" she asked, genuinely impressed. It was true what they said about him. The man really was a genius. Lucas laughed and cleared his throat.

"I know Terra Nova is a million miles from 2149... quite literally... but you should still lock your door. I saw your equations- very interesting. Tell me, when you run out of space in your little office, where are you going to work? I know how much paper these things take."

Holly blinked. He'd been in her house. He'd seen her work. When? How?

"Does your father know you break into other people's houses?" she said indignantly.

Lucas's face suddenly darkened. Holly fiddled with the rope behind her back. He stood up sharply, turning his back on her to look out across the water. He seemed to have tensed up, and with his hands on his hips he stood in silence for a few minutes.

"What did I say?" Holly asked quietly, looking at the ground instead of his back. He lowered his hands to his sides, turned very slowly and looked at her darkly. Walking over to her, he stood right in front of her leaning over her from above. Bending, he took hold of the side of her face, tilted her head backwards and breathed into her ear.

"Don't ever talk to me about my father," he whispered, causing her to shiver. Holly didn't move or speak. He let go, hovering for a second before stepping back.

"Now. Talk."

Holly swallowed.

"You're right," she said quietly. "I was sent here to check on you. On your work, I mean. 2149 are worried about the portal- they think it's been too long. They want to know what's going on, and obviously they couldn't ask Taylor..."

She stopped suddenly. Lucas's cheek twitched as he gritted his teeth at the mention of his father.

"So they sent me to find out and assist you."

Lucas sat down again opposite her.

"And what was your plan? To tell me? Or pull my work from under me to do it yourself? I mean, were you going to take over?"

Holly shook her head quickly. "Of course not. You said it yourself, I'm almost as good as you- I would never manage it. Almost as good isn't enough."

He laughed to himself, obviously enjoying the fact that he knew he was better.

"Well," he sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you. You're a real threat." Looking at her intently, he seemed to stare right into her mind. He always seemed to be smirking, and it made Holly more than a little uncomfortable.

"I mean," he said, standing up. With his hands in his pockets he began to walk in circles around her slowly. "I could pretend that nothing has happened, let it go and carry on as normal." He stopped behind her, leaning over her shoulder again. It was obviously an intimidation technique. A very effective one. Especially when he put his hand firmly on her neck.

"But then you might stab me in the back, double cross me and take over with Hope Plaza." Letting go, he carried on circling.

"As I made it a policy a long time ago not to trust anyone, I can't ignore it. So, I have a proposition for you."

She looked up.

"What's that then?"

"Well, at the risk of sounding like a child; I won't tell if you don't." He grinned.

"What?" Holly looked at him in confusion. Lucas sighed.

"I won't tell my father that you're a spy for Hope Plaza aiding the process of making the portal go both ways so they can kick him out and take over. In return, you won't tell him that I am not the son he thinks I am, or anything about what I am working on."

Holly frowned.

"Why should I trust you? And how are you going to be sure that I keep my end of the deal?"

Lucas smiled at her again.

"Smart girl, asking the right questions. See, I've thought of that already. Look at it this way. If you were to run to my father and tell him what I'm up to, and I happened to have some copies of the equations I found in your residence that I could show him in what would be both my defence and implication that you are in fact the traitor, who do you think he would believe?"

Holly closed her eyes and leaned forward, her shoulders slumping. Taylor would never believe her. She'd been there two minutes and Lucas was his son, his own flesh and blood. She had suspected once he'd said he'd found her calculations that he would make copies of them- after all, she would have done the same if it were the other way around. She had no proof to implicate him- nothing at all. But then, she'd never really meant to. That wasn't what she'd been sent there to do. She sighed, her body starting to ache from Lucas landing on her when she'd tried to get away. Opening her eyes to stare at the ground, she watched his shadow to see where he was. He was stooping slowly so that he would be eye level with her. He reached out a finger and lifted her chin so she faced him, only inches away.

"See, I knew you'd understand," he whispered, running his forefinger along her jaw. Holly narrowed her eyes.

"What makes you think I would turn you in any way when you know I've come here to be on your side?" she asked, genuinely curious as to his answer. Lucas smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"There are three sides, Holly. There's my father's side, my side, and Hope Plaza's side. See, I know as well as you do that those people aren't interested in anything but money. My motivation is elsewhere. Just because you work for them, doesn't mean you work with me."

She looked him in the eye for a few seconds. His eyes were very green, and very intense.

"So I suppose hatred is your motivation," she said, a slight edge to her voice. "And revenge."

Lucas looked back at her evenly, his hand still on her face.

"And I have yet to establish yours. But I have a feeling we can rule out money."

She nodded.

"Which makes me less like Hope Plaza than you thought."

He laughed again, very softly, staring into her face as he hovered at her level.

"So do we have a deal?" he asked quietly.

"You and I carry on as if nothing has happened, and you know that the minute you mention equations and research pertaining to making the portal go both ways along with my name in the same sentence, I will show him what I found in your study and implicate you extremely effectively as a liar and a traitor."

Holly narrowed her eyes again.

"Why are you doing this? Why don't you just tell him now and rid yourself of the threat? Why haven't you just killed me already?"

Lucas took his hand from her face and stood up. Perching beside her on the rock he'd sat her on, he looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set.

"Well I did think of that," he said calmly. "But I don't want Hope Plaza getting wind of it and sending an army in here prematurely to deal with me. See," he said, turning to her. "I knew you'd understand why it's taking so long- our minds work the same way. You know how complicated these things are, how long they take. Them, they are operating out of imbecilic greed." He cocked his head on one side.

"Besides," he murmured, fixing her hair after the slight breeze had moved it to hang in her eyes. "It might be nice to have someone like you around. Someone... pretty."


	4. Chapter 4

Holly sighed as she curled up in an arm chair, her hair still damp from her shower and her back and neck aching from the afternoon's incidents. She had taken a hot shower after Lucas had dropped her home, trying to take some of the ache out, but it hadn't really worked. They had driven back to the colony in silence, and he had only smiled at her upon dropping her at her house. He hadn't needed to ask where it was. She wrapped her fingers around a hot mug of tea, leaning her head on the back of the chair. She hadn't seen this coming. She'd known things weren't going to be straightforward as such, but this was very unexpected. She needed to talk to her employer, but was afraid that he had bugged her house. No-one was supposed to be able to contact the future- Terra Nova was cut off from 2149 except for a select few being able to contact them. Taylor could, that she knew. If anyone found out that she could, she would be in serious trouble. Well, not her personally, but her mission. She looked up at the ceiling, scanning for bugs or technology that Lucas could have placed to keep an eye on her. It was no use- it would be far too dangerous to do it here. But where could she go? She had the device, and all she needed for it to work would be a vague connection. It didn't even have to be strong- as long as it could be picked up. It was like cell phone service, she supposed, back in the future. There was the Eye- she could go there. But that too was dangerous. She didn't know what technology they had in there to keep an eye on people. Her office at work? The infirmary? Sighing with agitation, she closed her eyes. Where could she go? She wished she knew Terra Nova a bit better. There had to be places where no-one would be watching, listening or where there was surveillance. She thought for a moment, and sat forward suddenly. There was somewhere she could go...

Opening the door slowly, she looked around her quickly to check that she was alone. He would never catch her here because it was the last place he would expect her to go, especially after today's events. Stepping into Lucas Taylor's personal lab and office, Holly shivered. She had managed to disarm the security system and sneak in the back way, having made sure she avoided the cameras. She knew where he was- he was at a meeting with the rest of the science division in the control tower, headed by Taylor and Malcolm Wallace. That must be very frustrating for him. She smiled at the thought of it, walking slowly and silently to where his server hub would be in the wall. Standing next to it, she made sure she put the connection on secret so that he would not be able to detect that she had connected to it to make a call. No-one would know- it was all hidden and covered up. Her employer was good like that. Putting the call through, she took a deep breath and pulled the aerial out. After about fifteen seconds, a voice sounded at the other end. From here she could see the control tower, so she would know if Lucas, or anyone for that matter were to make their way back.

"Holly," the voice said, and she could tell it was who she needed to speak to.

"Henry," she breathed, so relieved she could cry.

"You alright my dear?" he said, sounding concerned. "You sound... well, not alright."

"I'm fine," she said, rubbing her back where she had landed on it as Lucas had landed on her. He didn't need to know details. "But we have a problem."

"Ah," he said.

"Why don't you sound surprised?" Holly asked, exasperated.

"Because he's Lucas Taylor, and I didn't expect it to be plain sailing. That's why I sent you. The man is a genius and is as sneaky and sly as they come, but you're just as good, I think."

Holly laughed.

"Well, to a point."

"So what's this problem?" Henry asked, and she could hear him sitting down heavily in his office. Where to start?

"Well, Lucas knows I'm here because of him," she began, perching on the edge of the desk.

"Go on," Henry said calmly, and she heard him take a swig from what was probably his whisky glass. She smiled- if he wasn't English he probably wouldn't sound half as calm. It was the accent. Or maybe it was just him.

"I had to treat him in the infirmary, and he asked me to go outside the gates with him this morning."

"Which you did," Henry guessed.

"Yes. Only, he turned on me. He started asking me questions and accusing me of working for Hope Plaza to spy on him."

There was a moment of silence, and if it were possible to hear someone smile, then she would swear he was doing so.

"I don't know whether to call him paranoid or just plain clever," he said. "What did you say?"

"Well I went along with it, told him Hope Plaza had sent me to hurry him up with the portal. He thinks I am working for them, and we agreed that I won't tell Taylor about him in return for him keeping quiet about me."

Henry chuckled.

"See, I knew you could do it. Not many people can lie to a man like Lucas Taylor and get away with it."

She sighed again.

"But what if he works out that I lied? What if he finds out who I am really working for?"

She heard Henry lean forward in his chair to lean on the desk. A pep talk was coming.

"Hols, it's going to be alright. If he works out what you're really doing there, and that you're nothing to do with Hope Plaza then he might even be pleased. You can do this- I know you can. Now, what did you find out about his work? How's he doing?"

Holly looked around the room.

"I don't know, I haven't had a chance to check. He broke into my house and stole some of mine though, he knows I can read his equations. He's not very happy about it... but then, he kind of is..."

Henry laughed.

"Not many people like Lucas exist. If he finds another like him, he's not likely to just brush them off. You're his new enigma, another mystery to work on."

"Not helping Henry," she said, 'hearing' him smile again. "Anyway. I'm in his office now."

"WHAT?" Henry half shouted. "Why?"

"I needed somewhere to call you and I was fairly sure he would have bugged my place. I thought this would be the last place he'd think I'd go, especially after he threatened me. Plus, I can take a look around and see where he's at with the equations."

"Ah," Henry said, admiration in his voice. "That's my girl. See, you're oh his case just like he's on yours."

"Yeah," she said bitterly. "But I'm dead if he finds me. Henry, there's bloody dinosaurs out there."

"I know, I thought you'd find them rather fascinating."

"Yeah, fascinating. I'm going to take a look around before he comes back, make copies of some things. I'll call you when I know more."

"OK. Take care my dear."

"Henry?" she asked, her voice small.

"Yes?"

"What do I do if he finds out?"

He sighed.

"You put him straight in touch with me. You're just the middle man, or woman, as it were. He'll know that. If he finds out that you're not working for Hope Plaza he'll want to know who you are working for, and why. He won't hurt you if he's curious enough, which being him, he will be. You put him in touch with me, and I will make sure you are safe. But," he added. "You're worrying prematurely. He won't find out if you're careful, which being you, you will be."

"Nice to know you have so much confidence in me," she smiled, missing her grandfather suddenly. "I wish you were here, granddad."

"Henry, my dear. Remember, no-one must know."

"Sorry, Henry."

He sighed again, deeper this time.

"I miss you too, Holly. And I am so proud of you. You're not hurt, are you?"

She looked at the bruises forming on her arms.

"No," she lied. "I'm OK."

"Take care, Hols," her grandfather said, and she knew immediately that he didn't believe her. "I want to see you in one piece when this is all over."

"Yeah, I'd love that too. I'd better go, before he comes back."

"OK. Stay in touch my dear."

"I will, look after yourself."

"Goodbye."

"Bye."

With that he was gone, and she was once again alone, in a strange land 85 million years in the past. Locking down the device and severing the connection, she looked around the room. Now she just had to find what she was looking for and get out of here. She couldn't help feeling this was all a little impossible- Lucas was not going to be easy to crack.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Lucas sighed as he leaned back in his chair, crossing one foot over the other as he rested them on his desk. His hands behind his head, he thought for a moment. He was busy in the lab, both with Terra Nova science division stuff and his own projects, and he had a lot to think about, but one thing was consuming his mind. Something was not right about Holly Carroll. He had expected her to confess to working for Hope Plaza eventually, because he knew how persuasive he could be, but it just all seemed to... easy. Frowning, he put his legs down, sat forward and wheeled his chair closer to his desk. Typing in an eight digit code he unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk, reached in and pulled out a brown file. He had taken the pieces of paper he had found in her office- just a handful of them, and had put them in the file without really looking at them. The equations he'd seen on the walls of her office were almost identical to his own, except for a couple of them hers were slightly off of what his were in how they ended up. That was only to be expected- she was a medical doctor, not a physicist. It was pretty impressive that she had gotten as far as she had. Opening the file, he rifled through the papers, reading them quickly. There were several with just numbers and diagrams on, and then there were graphs and arrows and symbols. Coming to the last few pages, Lucas froze. Flipping through the last four or five pages he had grabbed, he frowned even deeper and slammed them down on the desk. He hadn't seen that coming.

Pushing the button on his communications unit, he called for one of the security guards near the infirmary.

"Yes?" said a voice at the other end of it. He wasn't sure who it was, but it didn't really matter.

"Bring me Holly Carroll," he said, aware that he was being slightly snappy. "Now."

"Yes sir, Dr. Taylor," the soldier answered.

The line went quiet for a few minutes, and Lucas scanned the papers in his hands twice more.

"Dr. Taylor?" said the soldier, the line a little fuzzy.

"Yes?"

"She says she's working."

Lucas gritted his teeth and stabbed the button with his finger.

"Well tell her that if she wants to continue doing so, she'd better get over here right now."

"Yes sir."

It went quiet again, and Lucas sat back in his chair once more. About five minutes later, the soldier he had spoken to rounded the corner and entered his lab, accompanied by Holly. She was still wearing her white doctor's coat and her dark curls were pinned back elegantly. Her cheeks were a little pink and she looked irritated. Lucas nodded at the soldier, who nodded back and left.

"I was treating a patient," Holly snapped, folding her arms and staring at him angrily.

"Was it serious?" Lucas asked, feigning that he was remotely interested.

"Oh no," she waved a hand sarcastically. "He was only bleeding heavily from a puncture wound in his abdomen."

"He'll live," Lucas snapped. "There are other doctors." Clasping his hands together, he stared at her evenly. "Sit down," he said, his tone of voice conveying that it wasn't a choice he was giving her.

She looked like she was having trouble biting back what she wanted to say, but she sat opposite him slowly, her cheek twitching with irritation.

"You knew I was coming," Lucas said calmly, leaning back in his chair.

"What?" she said, sounding impatient.

"You knew I would come and find these," he said, waving a hand absentmindedly at her work which was scattered all over the desk. She looked at the papers, spotting the four he had closer to him. A satisfied smile crept across her face, and she too leaned back in her chair, looking up at him.

"I didn't know," she said. "But I suspected. You can't be too careful."

He blinked.

"Is that what this is?" he asked, his voice a little louder than before. Holly could tell he was angry, despite his calmness and his attempts to hide his irritation.

"Yes," she said, smiling at him with satisfaction. "That's me being careful. Come on Lucas, you're a clever man. You didn't need it easy. In fact," she said, leaning forward. "I think you prefer it difficult."

He stared at her, fighting to keep himself calm. She knew he was irritated purely because he couldn't understand something that she could, because she was the inferior, less experienced one. He felt defeated, and by a novice. He felt humiliated.

"Tell me what this is," he said quietly. He didn't need to make threats- his tone of voice did that for him.

Holly looked at her lap. She knew she couldn't afford to irritate him much more, but she had to admit that it was extremely satisfying to know that on this occasion she had won.

"I assume you mean the ones that you can't read," she said, taking care not to smile anymore. She didn't need to.

Lucas's cheek twitched and he clenched his jaw. He said nothing.

"Well, it's my conclusions. I do the math and the equations, factor them, and write my findings and conclusions separately using figure numbers and codes. The reason that you can't read it is because it's written in another language. I wrote it in Icelandic, so that if you found it you wouldn't be able to read it."

Lucas frowned. He had seen nothing in her records about her being Icelandic. She seemed to read his mind.

"My mother was Icelandic," she said, the smugness gone suddenly. "I grew up in Reykjavik. I spoke their language as a child. I like to write my findings in it because then no-one knows what they say."

"Unless they're Icelandic," Lucas muttered. Holly sat forward in her chair.

"Which you are not," she said with a charming smile. Again he said nothing, but instead rifled through the papers once more.

"What do they say?" he said finally, looking up at her slowly.

"Well, if you're working on the same thing, I'm guessing at a much faster pace than me, then you should already know."

He smiled, laying the papers down.

"Well, your equations are a little off, so I'm guessing your conclusions will be too."

Holly sighed, not sounding particularly bothered.

"You know, I had to factor all of those by hand, so if they are out by a few numbers then I think you could let me off. After all," she sniffed, clicking her eyes to his face, aware that she was bordering on flirting.

"It's your job, not mine."

He blinked.

"How's it going?" Holly pushed. This was the perfect opportunity to try and find out how close he was to figuring out how to make the portal go both ways.

"Are you any closer?"

Lucas clasped his hands together in front of him, leaning his elbows on his desk.

"I last checked in with Hope Plaza yesterday," he said, cocking his head on one side. "Did you expect me to be any further?"

Holly's stomach lurched a little. She had no way of knowing when he interacted with Hope Plaza, or what information he gave them. He would surely pick up that she wasn't working for them. To add to her fear, he looked at her curiously.

"Do you not have any contact with them?" he asked softly.

"Of course not," she snapped. "Taylor would see the transmissions and track them back to me. It was too dangerous."

There was silence for a few seconds, and she hoped that he would buy it. Seemingly he did, because he nodded, shifting in his seat.

"Well. I check in with them every five days, or if I make any major breakthroughs that they need to know about. Last night I updated them with my latest report."

"Which said..." Holly pushed, her heart still thumping. She was glad he could neither hear nor feel it. She knew it was ludicrous, but it almost felt as if it were sending vibrations through the floor.

"Which said that I am no further forward," he said with irritation. "I hit another wall."

She watched him for a minute. Was he telling the truth? His body language said he was, and the notes she had copied from his lab implied that he was. And then there was the anger and irritation he was displaying at not being able to read her notes. Was that because he was afraid she had gotten further than he had? He was looking down at her papers, his expression calm and steady.

"So, care to share?" he asked casually. "I don't like one sided conversations."

Holly swallowed.

"If you must know," she said awkwardly. "I am not even as far as you. I got as far as factoring the preliminary equations and realized I had miscounted something, so I had to go back and check all the weights and numbers. Those are just the documentation of that," she said, waving a hand at her papers in his hands.

Lucas looked at her for a minute, and then seemingly decided she was telling the truth. Smiling, he opened a desk drawer, laid her papers inside it, closed it and locked it with a pin code. Folding his arms, he looked her straight in the eye.

"So," he said. "Why don't you join me for dinner? We can talk about Iceland," he said, and for the first time Holly thought she saw a glimpse of something human in his eyes. He seemed genuinely intrigued- interested, even. Maybe Henry was right. She was his new mystery, and he was like a child at Christmas- he just couldn't wait to start figuring her out.

"Seriously?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because last time I went out with you you tied me up and threatened me, and acted like a total..."

"Seriously," he said, blinking.

Holly thought for a moment. This was a good opportunity to find out more.

"Where?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "We're not going OTG again, I don't trust you."

He laughed.

"Holly, there are no restaurants OTG. It's not like we can just build McDonalds and Olive Garden out there and just hope that the wildlife happen to not see them."

"Naturally," she said, raising her eyebrows again. "So where?"

"My place," he said.

She bit her lip.

"What are you doing?" she said, her tone and her expression giving away her suspicion.

"Building a bridge," he said, leaning back. "After all, we're on the same side, you and me. Why shouldn't we get on? Then, when the portal opens we can sit and watch together as our work is praised and remembered forever, and we become very rich."

Holly smiled.

"Well, when you put it like that. What time?"

"Meet me here at six. I'll drive us both back."

She nodded.

"Six it is."

With that, she turned and approached the door of his lab, her eyes closed as she took a deep breath. The security guard looked at Lucas, who nodded. With that he escorted her out, leaving Lucas alone in his lab. Once outside, Holly leaned against the wall for a moment, breathing regularly. What would he do if he found out the truth? If he found that they were on totally opposite sides, and that she had been employed to stop him from figuring out the portal instead of to help him? He would kill her for sure. And right now, she had no idea how she was going to stop him anyway, short of killing him first. That she was sure she could never do, for many reasons. Hoping Henry was right, she breathed in and began to walk back to work, her mind already on the evening ahead.


End file.
